Sunday, November 28, 2010

Molly's first visit with Santa Claus was SO sweet! We were just shopping in a local department store and did not have any intention on getting our photo with Santa, he just snuck up on us. She had a whole 'Santa outfit' to wear for this occasion, but the surprise of this photo is even better! Santa and his elves were in the children's department and there were NO LINES, NO CROWDS, or anything. Molly ran right up to him, got in his lap, and just stared at him. It was so sweet. The photographer took about 10 photos and I loved them all, but at $14.95 each, I decided on just this one. I love how she is eye-ing him. She was really checking him out. We seriously stayed there for about 20 minutes, while I looked at the pictures she played with some toys they had under the tree, keeping a watchful eye on Santa the whole time. Then she would run back and climb in Santa's lap again. She hugged and kissed him goodbye. I was shocked she wasn't scared of him or apprehensive at all. I'm so glad her first Santa visit turned out like this. She thought he was there just for her! ha!

*Notice, it wasn't the best backdrop with the horizontal line going across the back and it wasn't the most professional staff...notice the coke bottle on the floor beside Santa.:( But they were very nice, so I guess that is all that matters.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

CSN Stores has offered up products for review throughout the blogosphere. People always seem to be very happy with their products and find their website very easy and convenient to navigate. They make it easy to stock up on furniture like counter height stools for the kitchen, and in my case more recently Christmas presents for my little sunshine on Christmas morning. They have products that are within all different price ranges meaning that there really is something for everyone because there are more than 200 different stores!

CSN has become my go to site! I will soon be reviewing one of their great products, but in the meantime be sure to check out their site. I promise you will be surprised with all that they offer!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

One of my favorite mom bloggers, Clover Lane, had a great post this week I wanted to re-post over here. It's so good to learn from mom's who have gone before me and Sarah is one of those mom's I admire, even though I only "know" her through cyperspace. She is just a no-nonsense, high morals, try to keep it simple, to the point, vintage parenting mom and I love that. This is what she said:

Here's what I want to tell my younger self, and all of you who may be experiencing the same struggles I did:

1. Whether you have one child, or two, or five, remember that their are times and seasons of your life, where you are "allowed" to step back and just survive day to day without adding more to your plate. (Good, because I hate adding more to my plate!!)

2. Be confident in having the knowledge that only you and you alone can decide when your family can handle any extra commitments. (Love this! the outside world cannot make my agenda for me!)

3. Learn to say no without guilt. Offer to do what you can do easily...that means with no stress.(NO guilt, my favorite two words!)

4. Don't compare yourself with others. What one person seems to handle with ease (notice the "seems" part), is maybe not what you can handle. We all have different talents, and we all have different stresses and thresholds. We also all have different support systems behind the scenes. (This is especially important for me...not to compare myself with two parent households! There are things other families can manage because there are two adults working together. I can't stress that I still have fall leaves on my front yard and driveway that need to be raked. I'll get to it when I can:) I can't stress that other families will take vacations when we can't afford it. We'll do what I can manage on my own with one paycheck.)

5. Be kind to yourself and in spite of what the world tells us all today, do not underestimate how much work it is to be a mom, just by itself, without all the extra things we feel pressured to do today.(Amen!)

I'll just add that right now I feel totally fulfilled in my role of motherhood. I look forward to being with Molly each day. I don't really care that I have 4 free movie tickets in my purse about to expire because I haven't had time to use them this year! ha! I know that this time is just going so fast. This is the only time Molly will be two years old...full of curiosity and wonder at the world around her. Next year she will be three and it will bring a whole new set of characteristics...and then before I know it she will be grown. I don't want to wish this time away at all and I definitely don't want to look back and say I wished I had left the leaves alone, or left the dirty dishes in the sink, or not worried about planning the perfect holiday traditions and just have been with Molly more. There will be a time for movies someday and there will be a time to clean someday because someday she will not want me to play with her anymore. And someday she will not want me to read to her anymore. Oh, how I wish that someday would never come!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Friday, November 19, 2010

one of my best girlfriends lost her mom who had been battling cancer for several years

her funeral is saturday

i can't imagine her feelings of loss and sadness

but we KNOW where her mom is right now

and that makes me smile

my mom had left 3 voice mails on my phone by 630 a.m. today

never a good sign

she had wounded her leg in the shower and was bleeding profusely!

she didn't know what else to do so she was calling everyone to try and get help

the joys of living alone...nobody to help when you need them!

somehow she cut a blood vessel in her leg and she lost a lot of blood

molly and i rushed over to her house and it looked like a scene right out of friday the 13th!

blood is/was everywhere! it took forever for it to stop bleeding

her heart was pounding so hard she thought someone was pounding on the door!

added to the stress of loosing blood was the fear that 10 little kids were about to come to daycare for the day

in about 10 minutes time my granny (always a lifesaver) had called all the parents and told them daycare was closed because ms. dyeanne was "bleeding profusely" (it sounds funny now, but she really was!)

we took her to the dr. and they stitched it up so hopefully it will stop the bleeding

one of my cousins was diagnosed with breast cancer today

i haven't even talked with her, but i never like to hear the "C" word

who does?

she's going to be fine

she is strong and brave

but gearing up for the fight ahead is the tough part

and finally a dear friend of the family died today who had also been battling cancer

the whole family is just a great bunch of people and i'm sad for their loss

but like my friend's mom, we KNOW where he is right now too

and that makes me smile

so i ask you to pray for the burdens my friends and family are carrying right now

and perhaps they will feel it and be renewed again.

but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint

Sunday, November 14, 2010

santa came to town this weekend? i don't know if he came to your location, but in nashville he is officially checking his list twice as he arrived at our local mall on saturday...welcomed with the radio city rockettes! molly and i were not able to see his dramatic entrance because we were speaking at an adoption seminar, but we did zip by the mall after lunch to get a sneak peak.

a little christmas shopping first...

which ornament do we like?

this one is pretty cool.

this one is sparkly

and this tree is girly, my favorite!

**** Santa Claus has come to town****

her first glimpse of santa in person

she really seemed to like him

she was definitely very curious! we'll see what she thinks in a few weeks when we try getting closer!

Did you see Extreme Home Makeover tonight? They were right here in my own hometown of Nashville and rebuilt Lighthouse Christian Preschool and did such a beautiful job! It was destroyed during the terrible floods in May, while we were in China. This preschool is only about one mile from my house. There was so much damage very close and all around me I am beyond thankful that I did not have major damage to come home to! Anyway, it was a good rebuild and I hope you got to see it too!

fear not, there are a few more outifts for thanksgiving to come. and then the day after thanksgiving we have to start wearing our christmas selections because the child has over 20 outfits for christmas! do you think i went a little overboard? i just didn't realize it until i washed them all and hung them in her closet and was like...oh my, this is a little much! but most of them she can were for a couple years.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Sarah, over at Clover Lane is hosting a linky party to share favorite toys. As usual, her recommendations do not disapoint! I thought I'd join in and share what {i think} Santa may bring Molly this year:

a baby bed ( he got a good deal on this at a yard sale this summer...santa is very frugal!)

a doctor kit (this was free, thanks to a product review from CSN stores!)

I love Corolle Dolls, they are so pretty! Molly has one small one, so Santa is bringing her a larger one.

﻿An iron board, the last freebie! She loves to pretend to iron when I am ironing. I try to iron and prepare all of our clothes for the week on Sunday afternoon. So she sees me there each week! I hope her interest in ironing continues through the years...ha!

So as you can see, Santa has only had to splurge on buying the baby doll and the 2 yard sale items for this year's Christmas gifts. She has a few other small items to throw into the mix, but this is basically it. She is very into dolls right now and wants to brush their hair, give them baths, dress and undress them. She is a great mommy! I imagine, if she's like me, she will get a doll every Christmas! My mom still has most of my dolls and I can't wait to show them to Molly when she is old enough. With all of this loot, she should stay busy playing after Christmas while mommy takes down the Christmas decorations and cleans the house! ha!!!

About Me

I love blogging, reading about adoptive families, looking at decorating blogs, keeping up with facebook friends, cooking, shopping online, trying new recipes, going on new adventures with molly, and so much more! The views expressed on this blog are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of MNPS.